Meet Chicago's New Inspector General

Join BPI for our next Building Public Interest series event, An Interview with Chicago's New Inspector General, on July 20 at 12 pm (CDT).

Deborah Witzburg currently serves as the Inspector General for the City of Chicago, having been appointed to her first term in April 2022.

Chicago’s Inspector General Office is an independent, non-partisan watchdog that promotes effectiveness, efficiency, and integrity by identifying corruption and mismanagement. The office’s priorities and investigations have a significant impact on the people of the City of Chicago.
Gautreaux Civil Rights Litigation

On July 11 BPI hosted a Panel Discussion on Civil Rights Litigation and Housing.

Panelists included Margo Schlanger, the Wade H. and Dores M. McCree Collegiate Professor of Law; and Dr. Norrinda Hayat, Associate Professor of Law and Director of the Civil Justice Clinic at Rutgers Law School. Moderated by Quinn Rallins, Civil Rights Attorney at Loevy & Loevy Attorneys at Law and BPI Board Member, the discussion covered equity and justice in housing and the future of civil rights litigation as a mechanism for structural reform. 
Our work is shaped by collaboration, equity, and integrity. When that work includes finding ways to make a more significant impact in the communities we serve, we can’t leave a single stone unturned. We are conducting a research survey with our partners. Please take a few minutes to complete the survey.
Chicago Police Department Foot Pursuit Policy

Over the last year, a coalition of lawyers and Latinx community non-profits -- Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois, Pilsen Law Center, BPI, and Illinois Latino Agenda – have worked together to demand an official Chicago Police Department (CPD) foot pursuit policy that gives due weight to the serious safety threats posed by foot pursuits and that reduces their occurrence.
 
An officer engages in a foot pursuit by chasing a fleeing person they suspect has committed, is committing, or is about to commit a crime; foot pursuits are a dangerous police tactic that too often results in harm or death to those involved in the pursuit, primarily affecting Black and Latinx Chicagoans. Yet, for years CPD had no official policy on conducting foot pursuits.
 
After the deaths of Adam Toledo and Anthony Alvarez – two individuals who were shot and killed during foot pursuits in spring 2021 this coalition formed to voice concerns from some Latinx community members and groups in Chicago about CPD's use of foot pursuits. Together over the last year, the coalition developed comments responding to draft policies and met with City and CPD officials and other stakeholders to push for further progress.

In June 2022, CPD finalized its official foot pursuit policy. While we believe the final policy could have gone further to minimize dangerous foot pursuits, it does impose some crucial limits on their occurrence and is made better in part because of our coalition's advocacy and recommendations. We will continue to monitor whether the policy in practice achieves greater public safety for all and reduces reliance on unnecessary foot pursuits.
Community Policing

We work to enact systemic police reforms, promote community safety, improve police practices, and reimagine police departments and other entities' roles in producing public safety.

Cara Hendrickson, BPI Executive Director, was quoted in a recent Chicago Tribune article about the latest consent decree report.
BPI's Criminal Legal System work focuses on advancing "no entry" into the criminal legal system, decarcerating jails and prisons, and transforming incarceration. We develop research, legal approaches, and policy analysis that amplifies the perspectives and experiences of impacted individuals and communities and work strategically to build consensus and coalitions that center and support the power of affected communities to advance campaigns.

This month, Shareese Pryor, Senior Staff Counsel and Director of Criminal Legal System and Police Accountability at BPI, was quoted in a WBEZ article about corrections staff in Illinois prisons receiving minimal discipline for their misconduct.
Justice 20/20

On June 21, 2022, BPI and other members of the Justice 20/20 Network Coordinating Committee (the Illinois Justice Project, Cabrini Green Legal Aid, Blackroots Alliance, the Illinois Prison, and the Full Free Campaign), hosted a virtual summer convening for the Justice 20/20 Network. This Network is an inclusive community for policy advocates, grassroots organizers, community members, those who have experienced incarceration and criminalization, and all new learners hoping to contribute to an end to an oppressive criminal legal system.
 
The convening included a panel discussion focused on the competing narratives that impact our work to address the criminal legal system and another that focused on the importance of collaboration among stakeholders to disrupt the cycles of criminalization and incarceration.
 
Additionally, updates on the Justice 20/20 Network were shared, and attendees were provided breakout spaces to discuss prominent narratives that are important to uplift or collectively resist.

The Justice 20/20 Network serves as a vehicle for participants to collaborate, share information and potential opportunities, build shared narratives, and strategize how to achieve common goals. Visit our newly launched website at justice2020.org.
Through Gautreaux, a groundbreaking lawsuit in which a federal court ruled in 1969 that the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) had unconstitutionally segregated African American public housing residents, BPI continues to promote the investment of resources and development of vibrant communities. This includes commercial and economic development, parks, quality schools, and community resources in historically disinvested communities with a higher number of public housing residents.

The digital archive of the Gautreaux litigation is now housed at the Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse of the University of Michigan Law School.
When caregiving and school options for children were radically reshaped, we continued our support of the Altgeld-Riverdale Early Learning Coalition.

Despite the intense challenges faced by families last year, the Altgeld community had a rate of pre-kindergarten enrollment higher than the city average.

Now, on its 10th anniversary, we celebrate this collaboration's success and its next leadership phase as a community-based and community-led resource.
Consider donating to BPI as we continue our work, grounded in racial and social justice, to meet today's needs and challenges.